- For the world which this book was subtitled after, see Salacia (world).
The World of Salacia, also known as simply Sea Princesses (Princesas do Mar), is the first book in the Sea Princesses main series.
Synopsis[]
You may already have seen the ocean…
But you have no idea of the incredible things that happen within its depths.
There is an incredible world there, full of kingdoms, castles, kings, queens… and of course, princesses, because now, you will have fun with the exciting and fun adventures of Polvina, Ester and Tubarina, three little princesses who decide to learn about our world. However, they encounter trouble between one wave and another! Get ready to dive into this fantastic underwater adventure with the SEA PRINCESSES, written and illustrated by Fábio Yabu.
Plot[]
On a Monday morning, the Octopus Royal Family’s butler, Aldo, wakes Polvina up, saying that her father, the Octopus King, wants to see her before he leaves for work. While eating breakfast, Polvina laments having to go to school for the first time out of fear, but decides to go anyway because she did not want to disappoint her parents. Polvina is startled upon hearing that her father is going to the Shark Kingdom for a meeting; following an incident where the Octopus King had to save Polvina from being attacked by sharks, she became a shy and closed girl, afraid of leaving the palace, as a result.
The Starfish King arrives with Ester to pick Polvina up and take her to school. On the way, they encounter Mr Mollusc, an old acquaintance of Polvina’s family. Upon arriving at the Sea School, Polvina and Ester encounter various people from different kingdoms, including Tubarina, who berates them after they were scared at the sight of the shark carriage.
Meanwhile, the Octopus King meets with the Shark King at the Shark Palace. They discuss an imbalance occurring in the World of Salacia, resulting in food for the sharks becoming scarce, in turn causing them to attack octopuses more frequently.
Back at the Sea School, the children are taken for a tour around the school before they are taken to the classroom. Polvina sees a spot in the front row and goes to take it, only for Tubarina to take it first. Their teacher, Miss Marla, greets the children and gets them to introduce themselves before starting the class.
Miss Marla tells the class a secret about the World of Salacia; above their realm of a world named Dryland, where some people take advantage of their fish, reefs and corals. She hopes that the people of both worlds will realise that they are all part of something bigger, so until the day when the two worlds will be at peace, Salacians should take care of their world and never interfere with Dryland, maintaining their existence a secret for fear of severe repercussions. She tells the class about the Laws of Salacia, explaining each one to them and what they mean.
At recess, Polvina races against Tubarina for the last table in the cafeteria, leading them to bump into the school cook. Miss Marla hears the commotion and sends them to the teachers’ office.
During the second class, Ester asks Miss Marla how they could get to Dryland and she additionally tells them about the Bubble Lighthouses, which were proposed by scholar B.B. Van Glub to help Salacians locate their world without raising suspicion to Drylanders.
After school, Ester suggests to Polvina that they swim to the limits of their world. Polvina initially refuses, but then decides to go in order to prevent Ester from going with Tubarina. After passing by Mr Mollusc, they arrive at the Bubble Lighthouse in the Shark Kingdom and swim up. Upon breaching the surface, Polvina and Ester begin acquainting themselves with the air and the sky when they see a shark, Mr Dennis, being captured by some Drylanders.
Despite the Drylanders almost seeing them, Polvina and Ester decide to rescue Mr Dennis. While Polvina heads back to the bottom to get help, Ester tries to pull Mr Dennis back down into the water. Much to her surprise, Ester learns that Mr Dennis is a polyglot and is also able to speak the starfish language. Polvina returns with Mr Mollusc and they help Ester pull Mr Dennis. Tubarina arrives with some sharks, who help free Mr Dennis before they attack the boat to scare the Drylanders onboard, causing them to leave.
In the Shark Kingdom, Polvina and Ester are now on good terms with Tubarina, the former having been convinced that sharks aren’t as bad as she thought. The Octopus and Shark Kings encounter them and when Tubarina blurts out their adventure to them, they are initially angry, then compassionate, recognising that they followed the Laws of Salacia vigorously and proving that the kingdoms can live in harmony. The Shark King explains that the sharks’ food has become scarce because of the Drylanders’ traps.
The Shark King orders his royal messengers to spread the story of the girls’ adventure and soon after, it spreads through all of the kingdoms, resulting in the appearing on the cover of Scales magazine. The next day at school, Miss Marla congratulates them for their courageous act and even Mr Dennis and Mr Mollusc come to pay homage.
Errors[]
Missing Fifth Law
- On P33, Tata and Agostinha's zodiac signs are erroneously stated as Taurus and Cancer respectively when the official sources (and thus, this wiki) state them as Cancer and Sagittarius respectively. This has been corrected in the translation.
- This error is also reflected in the Kindle version of the book.
- In the first edition of this book, the Fifth Law is missing from the five Laws of Salacia on P41. This has been corrected in subsequent editions.
Notes[]
- The secondary title for this book, The World of Salacia, was not coined until 2007 when Fábio Yabu posted an alternative cover with it on his DeviantArt page. It was only cemented in 2020 when he released the book on Kindle with that title. In order to differentiate the name of the book from the series in general, this book will be known by its secondary title on this wiki.
- Like in the animated series, this book also contains background characters who have names or appearances, but not both at the same time. None of these characters are shown or mentioned in any other books.
External links[]
- Transcripts and translations for The World of Salacia
- Spanish translation of the book
- O Mundo de Salácia on Amazon Kindle